Man Convicted In Shoals Murder Released From Prison

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

TUSCUMBIA, Ala. (WHNT) – One of five men convicted in a high-profile murder in Colbert County has been released from prison.

Donnie Ray Risley was released Thursday after serving his sentence. He was released from the Bullock Correctional Facility, southeast of Montgomery.

Colbert County Sheriff Ronnie May said Risley will be living in the Russellville area.

Risley had been up for parole in 2011, but was denied early release.

Risley pleaded guilty to robbery in connection to the murders of Harold Pugh and his 11-year-old son, Joey Pugh. The two were killed as they returned from a fishing trip in Colbert County in July 1997.

Risley agreed to a deal with prosecutors to testify against four other people in the murders. In all, five men were involved in a plot to ambush the Pughs, steal their truck and use it as a getaway vehicle in a bank robbery in Mississippi the next day.

Thomas Dale Ferguson and Michael Craig Maxwell were convicted and sentenced to death in the case. Keno Graham is serving life in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of murder. Mark David Moore pleaded guilty to one count of murder and is also serving life in prison.